Unfortunately I feel like this is the same argument we had 2 years ago when I first started steem. Nothing ever came of it or changed Steemit the company provided no feedback at all.
There are plenty of ways to improve the system but right now that comes down to steemit the company and until they start taking some action I honestly don't have high hopes for any big changes such as this.
I full agree it is lopsided and that quality curation should matter. I tend to blend about a 85%Auto selling votes and 15% curation at the moment. I use to not and manually do it all but business wise I found it not worth it and just went to selling the votes. I understand in a way its bad but like with everything there is the good and the bad.
Perhaps here soon I will go into less selling but honestly I would love to hear back from steemit for once about the issue and that they are going to do something about it.